Simplicity Rules

Adam DuVander on keeping it simple

Create your SMS service with TextMarks

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Since I released Text WifiPDX, I’ve been playing around with the TextMarks service. Anyone can create an two-way text messaging system with very little additional effort.

There are three ways to use TextMarks:

  1. Have a stock message reply to a text, like an email auto-responder
  2. Send a message to a webpage and respond with the contents of the page (that’s what I did with Text WifiPDX).
  3. Subscribe to updates, which send periodic messages, like a short (very short) e-newsletter to your phone

Then choose a keyword:Enter a textmarks keyword... Bingo is available

All three letter combinations and a few popular words are reserved, but there’s still a lot of good stuff.

If you already have a web site that interacts with data somehow, adding a TextMark is pretty easy. My tool to find WiFi in Portland has been around since 2004. The hardest park about hooking up the code to my TextMark was finding out how to pass the non-keyword portion of the text to a web page.

For Expert Users: you can include up to 9 variables in TextMarks that get their information from a URL. Include \1, \2, … \9 in the URL and these variables will be replaced by the words that follow the TextMark in the request, or use \0 to get all words following the TextMark.

Do you have information that will help people when they’re out and about? Or, do you want to make direct contact with prospects who view your ad? Check out TextMarks.

A Simplicity Paradox

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It’s natural to assume that to make something better requires a complicated solution. More explanation, more features, more conditions.

The Wheeze sends me a look inside what Google found out about power supply efficiency. If, like me, you don’t get that jazzed about computer hardware, see how you can apply the following to your project:

You won’t have to pay more for a higher-efficiency PC, because the power supply is actually getting simpler, not more complicated.

You can get more out of less effort, and so can your users. All you need is to find the spots where you’re wasting power.

Find Portland hotspots from your mobile phone

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I’m excited to introduce Text WifiPDX, a service to find nearby WiFi hotspots (in Portland):

    Three easy steps

  1. Create your message in the format Wifi <address>
  2. Send the text to 41411
  3. Wait for the quick response

This is a feature that has been complete for well over a year. When my hard-wired WiFi brain isn’t working, I’ve been able to text in and find hotspots. The problem was finding the right texting number.

Short codes are a long shot

To get a number like 41411, I would have had to go through the short code bureacracy. It’s a lot of money and even getting a short code doesn’t insure that I’d be able to have my short code usable by every mobile provider.

I first found a site that provided keywords with 2-way SMS. I sent a message with my keyword (wifi) to a UK telephone number. Then, it forwarded my message to a web page, returning the reply in a text message. It was exactly what I wanted and worked as a personal proof of concept. I’d have never asked the public to text the UK, so it wasn’t a real solution.

Then my friend John and I worked on getting an open source SMS gateway working. For awhile, John had it running in his San Francisco apartment. With a 503 number, this might have worked fine.

TextMarks to the rescue

Luckily I waited, because John found TextMarks, a site that provides the same service as my original UK site, but with a short code, 41411.

Check it out, Portlanders, and let me know what you think.

WiFi makes my life easier

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I’m quoted in an article about Portland’s municipal internet. Among other things, I say, “For me ubiquitous access means I don’t have to base my life around wherever my office is.”

I have been working from coffee shops and cafes since late 2001. Even though I’ve had an office for several years, hotspots around the city have still helped me stay connected. No doubt, WiFi has simplified my life.

The Two Simplicity Paths

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Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful. In that definition are the two Simplicity Paths: tearing down and building up.

Tear down

Trim to the barest essentials. Look around at what isn’t needed and tear it out. Reduce.

Simplicity Path One: Tear down

Build up

Start from the core and add on only what you need. Organize, so you know what is essential at this moment.

Simplicity Path Two: Build up

Tear down and Build up

Most (all?) of the time, you’ll need both paths, working together. Simplicity is a give-and-take. As you remove what you don’t need, add back the meaningful stuff.

Simplicity Paths: Tear down and Build up

The core is my favorite part. It’s like a wall awaiting paint. I push myself hardest to tear down, because only then can I experience the project from the core, building out.